I have been fortunate to catch various
forms of the species throughout the world, including Nile Perch beyond 100lb,
but the real perching is done back home.
The modus operandi has always been to
find my own perch and target them in a circumspect manner. Perhaps it’s coming from the good old
secretive days of specimen hunting that I find it best to work alone, only
sharing captures with a few close friends.
Big perch, like other predators, simply cannot stand too much
pressure. Nor will you do yourself or
the fish any favours with publicity that exposes venues, especially in this age
of social media where news is disseminated wide and far instantly.
In my lifetime I’ve witnessed two
perch diseases, the last in circa 1985 left many waters decimated. It was a long, long journey until the late 1990s
when signs of specimen perch started to show again. I still have my old Ordnance Survey maps of
venues that I explored and one such water, Marden Thorn, finally gave me a nice
perch one Christmas Eve. I was back in
business! However, no sooner had the festive
period finished when the county was beset with ‘foot and mouth’ disease. Fishing waters were closed and by the time
the ban was lifted the controlling club had lost it to a private buyer. I was devastated. Fortunately, all the groundwork assessing
venues meant I had others with potential.
And sometimes things happen for a reason as fate takes its toll.
Although this story was partly covered
in ‘The Biggest Fish of All’ the full
events and aftermath have never been told.
To cut a long story short, working alone over the seasons, picking the
days and times to go, I discretely caught a number of fours culminating in
March 2004 with a 5lb 1oz perch. In
historical context, it was 8oz behind the existing record, zoomed into The Top
50, and was the first five reported in years, apart from a 5lb 0oz and a 5lb
4oz that same year from the then ‘Perch Mecca’, the Great Ouse.
Those big
perch had been there for some time and no one knew. Indeed, I nearly gave up on the lake until, at
the very last attempt after flogging its banks for a dozen days, a 2lb perch
followed a retrieving bait to my rod tip ring. With dorsal fin erect, he basked in all his
glory for what seemed like an eternity, eyes changing between lobworm and me,
then suddenly he slowly turned, flicking his tail, before moving off at snail
pace in a display of utter contempt to the angler for insulting him. Although I was impressed by this performance
it gave me all the encouragement needed to return the next day, where I duly
caught his mother at 4lb 8oz. It was the start of a perch journey I shall never
forget.
That experience culminated in the five which, for the record, measured 20” (from mouth to tail tip) x 15 ½” inches, and was caught with another at 2lb 10oz 8drms. It was the highlight of a memorable week that saw me go through the card with perch in every pound division right up to five, including another brace of 4lb 0oz 8drms and 3lb 9oz 8drms. My initial cool when landing the fish was probably due to recognising it on the unhooking mat as a big four from the previous season. Naturally, I assumed it was a four - I fished for fours, 5lb perch were just never considered! On the scales for the third time and only when it confirmed the previous readings, which was actually a shade over the 1oz mark, did my knees go.
Composure was soon restored when I
needed some pictures. A dog walker I
befriended would do the honours and I knew when he’d be around on my short
sessions. Except this day he didn’t show
so as dusk arrived I put my old 35mm camera on a bankstick and took 6 shots,
all were out of focus apart from one here which is slightly so and dull. Thankfully I decided, in the age when you had
to wait for your prints back from the chemists, to call my wife, Alison. In pitch black darkness the photo shoot was a
bit like the ‘Golden Shot’ (younger readers may need to ‘Google’ that once
popular TV programme) with me going “Up a bit, left a bit, down a
bit.....fire!”. It did give me peace of
mind and I could include the 2lb 10oz which also gave a reference of scale to
the size of the biggun. Sometimes the easiest
part is catching the fish!
We went home and got on with the
routines of everyday domestic life, the only time I gave it thought was for a
few seconds laying there in bed before falling asleep. Back then a 4lb perch was a rare beast and it
was only the following morning, when reflecting on that season and previous,
that it all began to sink in. I remember
saying “No one is gonna believe this – it’s off the bloody radar!”.
For sheer fun I went the following
Saturday knowing other members would be present. I just sat down after returning a 3lb 6oz and
caught the end of the Grand National only to hear my horse from the work’s
sweepstake win the race! Talk about when
your luck’s in! Then the following day
life became really surreal when my team, Millwall, reached the FA Cup final for
the first time in their history! The
world had gone crazy!
I had done it ‘my way’ and no bugger
knew, but it left me ‘perched out’ for a number of years. There was also a negative aftermath which involved
a‘green-eyed’ man with whom I was once friends.
After one more session that year I returned home to be told by Alison
“You’re in trouble!”. One of the clubs where
I was a member telephoned to say I was using banned livebait on their water to
catch perch. Well not only was I using
lobworms, which anyone who knows me will testify I always do back end of the season,
but the 5lb perch was caught from another club’s water! The momentary grief was soon resolved but not
before I found out who reported me to the wrong club.
Spring arrived and I called in to the local
Larkfield complex to get in the mood for the start of my tench fishing. For many years you couldn’t help but bump
into Ted Bryan on one of the lakes. Ted
greeted me with “’ere, that bloke you know, he was here last week asking where
you had all your big perch from?”. Now
Ted is far from stupid and quickly sussed he was being spoken to for snippets
of information, especially the location.
Ted didn’t know the venue, as I had not told anyone at the time, but took
an immediate dislike to what the person was trying to do, so then strung him along
something rotten. Frankly, it was
hilarious as he had him possibly looking for the location in all different
directions!
This chancer was the most blatant, but
he was not the only one, and it really did feel like “the hunter becoming the
hunted”. Late one Sunday afternoon this
scenario played on my mind until I suddenly had a burning instinct to visit the
fishery to see if there was anyone after my perch. I recall thinking, whilst driving along, how
irrational my behaviour was. However,
upon arrival my suspicions were confirmed by the sight of his Volvo estate car.
My curiosity had to be further satisfied
so I made my way towards the water without trying to be noticed. Suddenly, I could see him on the far side
next to an obvious perch holding area.
Thankfully it was too obvious, even to the perch and not much came from
that spot. However, as I carefully
approached a favoured swim my heart sank when I saw a loose perch float snagged
in marginal rushes. My secret had been
found out!
It was a relief in a way though
because it was getting awkward with friends, one of whom interrogated me the
entire journey from mid Kent to Buckinghamshire on a Great Ouse perch
trip. The most bizarre was my old angling
mate John Lawrence. He was convinced of
the correct venue but, in order not to lie, and in true politician style, I
would neither confirm nor deny. Having
retired for some while, John always went back to the work Christmas dinner and
that year sat next to someone who, knowing he fished, told him about the big
perch he would photograph when walking his dog.
Yes, you’ve guessed, it was my aforementioned canine cameraman! What were the odds on that happening? Despite John getting an accurate description
of me I still didn’t confess!
If the five I caught put the same
weight on as it had done from the previous season then it could be a record
contender. I can honestly say it’s the
only time I’ve targeted a repeat capture.
I kept away until the following March but my attempts were half-hearted. I never saw it and, with big fish being on
borrowed time, assumed it was dead. I
eventually told my Great Ouse companion who quickly filled his boots, winning
numerous angling weekly magazine awards, before finally being convinced of repeat
captures.
Imagine my surprise when yet a further
year down I heard my five had been caught at 4lb 13oz – I was delighted. Particularly so because it was caught by my
friend Jim Gibbinson. Ironically, the
previous year I was at Jim’s home and we spoke of my perch but I never
volunteered venue nor, being the gentlemen, did he ask. I would have happily shared information if I
thought he was seriously interested.
I discovered the following day that
all was not lost when Ian Welch banked one of the fours. Better still, the following year on the very
same date, he bagged a brace of fours. I
couldn’t have been more joyous as I walked to assist a very emotional Ian with
the biggest at 4lb 9oz in his landing net.
In fact I had to grab the pole has he was unknowingly lowering it (and
the fish) back into the water, such was his state of euphoria. It was testament to the anglers and their
care that those big perch were still going strong but for me it would be my last
visit. Other venues needed to be
explored and my pike fishing had been neglected.
Rarely, in angling, do you discover
such a rich goldmine of specimen fish and have it all to yourself. I have had similar since with tench and you
struggle to keep the lid on others finding out.
That period when you’re the only one is what I crave. Not just a privilege but a true blessing. Sod the accolades, awards, prize money or
tin-pots (such distractions have never really tempted me). Nothing can match that feeling of being first
to the angling equivalent of reaching the summit and the ecstasy you experience
alone, in total isolation. Usually,
you’re already on borrowed time and have to make the most. When known, some may even doubt your success
but who cares? Yours is the kingdom and
glory, so just enjoy the ride.
As expected, the venue became
extremely pressured. Those big perch
have long since died but it still produces specimen sizes, although never a
four to my knowledge. Frankly, for that
to happen, it could do with being neglected for a few years but judging from
reports and even photos on social media there’s little chance of that
happening.
Within two years of my 5lb 1oz there was a
boom in big perch and there’s no denying the past decade has been the best time
for a leviathan.
Today’s young generation of specialist
anglers may find it difficult to
comprehend the dark ages when a 2lb perch was hard to find. Don’t take these peak weight productive times
for granted though has characteristically they have been rapidly followed by
decimation. Enduring those entire bleak
years, hungry for decent perch, all the effort, anguish, miles and blind
alleys, was momentarily forgotten after that one capture.
Mike Cutler
No comments:
Post a Comment